Detail from The Canal, Amsterdam, 1889, James McNeill Whistler, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

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M.1265
Butterfly

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1890/1892
Collection: Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Accession Number: 2006685422
Medium: pen and black ink
Support: off-white card, with printed butterfly on small rectangle of paper, 18 x 25 mm (11/16 x 1"), cut from book (Whistler 1890) stuck to it
Size: 5 1/2-5 5/8 x 5 1/4-5 3/8" (140-143 x 133-136 mm)
Signature: butterfly
Inscription: 'Top/ Page 320./ size. /No. [5, crossed out] 4.' and 'No. 5 -'
print

Butterfly

Description

Butterfly, Library Of Congress
Butterfly, Library Of Congress

The butterfly derives from Whistler's monogram 'JW', with, in addition, a barbed tail and broad trefoil. It is a design for Whistler 1892 [more]. A cut-out butterfly from the first edition of The Gentle Art of Making Enemies is stuck on the recto.

Last updated: 19th March 2021 by Margaret